As a child, Cynthia White cherished walking the shores of Walden Pond, Mass. while picking up twigs, stones and just about everything else she found in her path.
The fair's home-grown flavor was meant to channel Pablo Picasso's feelings on art, said Marica Hefti, founder and director of the event. In short, she said, "The painter paints what he can sell - the artist sells what he can paint."These days, she lives in Denver but kayaks rivers across the nation, picking up pieces of wood along the way to use in wind chimes that are a bit more finely-tuned.She sold her first wind chime at the age of 20. But she made her first one 11 years earlier, using the odds-and-ends she collected at that pond."These artists that we choose have the same kind of feeling," Hefti said.She hasn't changed.All artists had to pass a judge's muster to join in the fair, which only allows artwork made in the United States. Most hail from the western U.S., though one came from as far as Florida.-"I like sound," White said. "I like something that's kinetic and moves."Standing amid a gallery of wind chimes, White showed off her artwork Saturday during the Pikes Peak Arts Fest, which continues through Monday. About 90 artists are showing off their latest creations during the fair at America the Beautiful Park. Offerings include sculptures, paintings, jewelry and even a few lawn ornaments.White agrees."It's a twig with stuff hanging from it," White said, chuckling."My mother used to joke that the whole house used to tilt to my bedroom because I collected so much stuff," White said.Other jobs might pay more. But this "very organic" hobby keeps her smiling.She uses the branches as the wind chime's heart, stringing intricate minerals and pipes - obsidian in some cases - that musically clang together.Some of the works stem from trips to Clear Creek in Colorado, while others were snatched from the waters of the Great Lakes, Washington and northern Oregon."Flipped the boat, but I held on to the wood," she said, pointing to a nearby wind chime that swayed in the breeze of an oncoming thunderstorm.Only now, she knows what to do with all those treasures.
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